About me

Reader. Writer. Geek.
An advertising creative by profession, I began my career as a copywriter and eventually found my way to the digital marketing world. Today, I serve as Brand Lead at Google India. Here, I work closely with our agencies to lead our marketing creative work - essentially everything you've seen from Google since 2014. And look after Doodles for India and other special Brand projects.
Being married to Saanwari, founder of PoppadumArt, one of India's top indie decor brands, makes me the CxO of her business, where the value of x changes daily. In this role, I sell behind the counter at exhibitions, lug around cartons, and look after all PoppadumArt marketing.
In my spare time, you'll find me glued to my Kindle, probably reading sci-fi, fantasy, histories, biographies and business books. I'm a huge fan of Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time, as also Asimov, Clarke, Superman and Star Wars. My other obsession includes collecting fountain pens to leave behind to any heirs I may have.

Tag Archives: trend

The tough part about leading an agency creative team is that you have to set the direction and the vision for the work that you will do.

The great part about leading an agency creative team is that you get to set the direction and the vision for the work that you will do.

Digital marketing in India has come a long way since I defected from traditional advertising in 2009. Fewer marketers are talking about digital being the future; they’re beginning to see it as a de facto way of life. I, for one, believe we’ve entered a post-digital age, and that all marketing efforts going forward need to accept and leverage that reality.

I think we need to go beyond looking at digital as Internet and mobile. I think we have to look at digital marketing as an intersection of three worlds; and that intersection doesn’t always need to reside in the virtual world.

Digital marketing is an intersection of three previously distinct worlds.

Forgive me, but I’m going to repeat three buzz-phrases you’ve been hearing for a while. They’re the absolute truth.

Content is the new communication. You can’t be a marketer and believe that you’ll achieve brand engagement with a 30-second TVC.

Data is the new oil. Because digital allows us to capture what people are actually doing, versus the focus groups that capture what people claim they’re doing.

Mobile is the new TV. It’s belittling to call the first screen you look at every morning, the only screen you carry wherever you go, and the last screen you look at every night a “second screen”.

The other thing we need to practice is data-driven marketing. If you’ve managed to get past information overload and get someone to actually click through to your content, you aren’t doing yourself justice if you aren’t setting up to reach that person again. Every piece of engagement that you run needs to help you understand something more about your audience.

Marketing today isn’t scientific unless it’s driven by data.

If one understands these shifts, it’s not difficult to see where digital creativity is going in 2014. Here’s my bucket list for the year to come.

We know where you are, what device you’re on, what content you like, your relationship status, your job profile. Which means I can tailor a message to suit you – and just those people similar to you.

This year, content marketing will grow up. Brands will need to create content from things they do, rather than just a philosophy they claim to espouse. Hint: Red Bull Stratos.

Every year, a commentator like me says that THIS is the year of mobile. But, for the first time in my career, I’m seeing brands invite pitches that specifically have a mobile leg to them. It’s getting serious.

Jawbone, Fitbit and Pebble are showing the way. And a new generation of devices, with integrated services, is on the way. How can one ignore a platform that’s touching your consumer’s skin 24×7?

Facebook’s organic reach for Pages is on its way to zero. (They said it, not me.) The millions of dollars spent on vanity metric wars seem like they’re going down the drain, no? Brands will – and are- making the move to their own platforms. Where they, not Mark Zuckerberg, will call the shots.

Data, beautifully visualised, can tell some fantastic stories. A compelling form of content that more and more brands – and journalists – are experimenting with.

Morgan Stanley predicts 75 billion devices will be connected to the Internet by 2020. There’s no better time to build that tweeting urinal, you know.

Interrupt at your audience’s point of need. Solve need. Become part of their life. Easier said than done, but software/utility-based marketing is here to stay.

It’s only recently that Indian marketers have begun questioning the value of their social media communities. I see an increased focus on quality fans, leading to higher engagement and measurable ROI, especially in the retail industry.

And, finally, the elephant in the room. Everybody’s waiting for the public launch. Everybody’s waiting for the open ecosystem. And when it does, we’re going to see a plethora of apps and content developed for and from Google’s futuristic eyepiece.